For years, agencies talked about creativity as if it lived in one department – the studio, the finished artists, the copywriters… or the pencils (as creatives were called back in the day when I was in college).
But the longer I work in this business, the more I realise- creativity isn’t a department. It’s a system. It’s the way a team works, listens, debates, compromises, protects, and delivers. It’s the chemistry between client and agency, the approach to feedback, the way information flows, the honesty (plus tough conversations) and the space for good ideas to breathe.
And if creativity is a system, or an orchestra that creates beautiful music, then great client service is the conductor for the show.
The Conductor
We don’t just manage the work. Set budgets. Watch timesheets. We design the conditions for the work to happen. We set the pace, protect the idea, protect our colleagues, protect our clients, and make sure the right conversations happen at the right time. Some days we feel like we are conducting an orchestra, other days may feel like we’re conducting the circus.
Client service also acts as translators, connectors, and sometimes referees – but I would argue that we are also creative in our own right. I may not know how to use a Mac, but I sure know what does and does not work when I see it and I am not afraid to say so.
Because creativity doesn’t start with a blank page. It starts with the ask. How you interrogate the ask, how you approach the ask, and how you get creative with the budget so that the client gets more value.
The Brief Bible
That is why the brief is a valuable tool. A bad one is almost as good as a perfect one as it allows you to ask the right questions, fill in the gaps, triggers clients to reconsider and have eureka moments- you always want the first response to the brief to be received well.
That’s not admin. That’s being creative.
The best client service people know that every brief is a creative ecosystem.
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If the eco-system is too loose, ideas drift (abandoned).
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If it’s too tight, ideas die (burn up).
Our job is to find the balance that lets creativity flow.
Misperceptions
People often are misguided about what the role of client service entails. We don’t sit outside the creative process and watch the clock and numbers— we design and shape the process. We debate with colleagues, we question why decisions are made, we make creative suggestions, we look at decks and we can get blunt at times. Because if I’m not creatively inspired, why would I expect clients to be?
How I choose my words at times can be quite creative- for example, in other agencies, I have received harsh comments from clients. I would deliver the feedback back to the team quite in such a way in order to protect feelings. Because my role as the conductor is to ensure that strategy connects to design, how feedback becomes insight and how ambition turns into execution. We want to see our ideas in the wild…
We are all Creative
When the relationship is open, curious, and disciplined, the ideas soar and the relationship become more collaborative. We may push boundaries but clients respect that, as they want to be challenged and often need another perspective. Because when it feels siloed or transactional, even the most talented studio can’t save the work. As I always say, give them what they want, and give them what they need.
Creativity is collective — it relies on trust, translation, and shared belief. And rationale, honesty and how you creatively sell it helps bring the idea home.
Creativity is collective — it relies on trust, translation, and shared belief. And rationale, honesty and how you creatively sell it helps bring the idea home.
Creativity doesn’t just live in the design team. It lives in the meetings and workshops we host. Creativity isn’t a department. It’s a system. And the best client service people know how to design it. And conduct it.
If you’d like to have a Candid Chat about how we can support your brand through design, strategy, and experience, reach out to us at TAP Design Consultancy – part of the kith&kin group, alongside Pluto and bloom.Â
